As we recently past the dog days of summer (who came up with that term? Apparently the ancient Mediterraneans who considered the period 20 days before and after the day that Sirius, the Dog Star, first rises before the Sun), can we look forward to more moderate temperatures? Mind you this is only my local experience. Perhaps where you live you're still feeling like the Dog Days, that hot, sultry weather that the Northern latitudes experience in July and early August. At the very least we have Homer's thoughts on this subject from the Iliad: Sirius rises late in the dark, liquid sky On summer nights, star of stars, Orion's Dog they call it, brightest Of all, but an evil portent, bringing heat And fevers to suffering humanity.